Mock Draft: 2003...

Ah, the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, arguably the deepest since 1990, when the top 5 were Owen Nolan, Petr Nedved, Keith Primeau, Mike Ricci, and Jaromir Jagr (also in the 1st round: Darryl Sydor at 7, Derian Hatcher at 8, Brad May at 14, Keith Tkachuk at 19, Martin Brodeur at 20, Bryan Smolinksi at 21).

And of course, we know what the Rangers and Islanders did. Hugh Jessiman at 12th overall, the only player in the ’03 Draft to never play an NHL game. Robert Nilsson at 15th overall, who wasn’t even a great player before he was drafted, and certainly isn’t now in Edmonton.

Let’s take a look back at that draft and see the spots players should have gone in hindsight, and who was actually taken there.

I pretended that Draft Day trades never happened. For instance, Pittsburgh actually traded up to #1 (from #3) because they wanted to draft the same goalie that Carolina wanted to draft. In my world, Florida still picked 1st, and the Penguins went 3rd overall.

Consider this a Mock Draft, 6 and a half years later...

#1, Florida, Dion Phaneuf
(Went 9th to Calgary)
Actual Selection: Marc-Andre Fleury, by Pittsburgh
The Penguins and Hurricanes both wanted Fleury, so Pittsburgh traded with Florida, who was set in the goalie position with Roberto Luongo. They took Fleury, and won their Stanley Cup 6 seasons later, so you can’t fault them, but Phaneuf is the biggest difference-maker in the whole 2003 NHL Draft.

#2, Carolina, Zach Parise
(17, New Jersey)
Actual Selection: Eric Staal
Carolina also won a Stanley Cup during Staal’s incredible rookie year, and he is going to be good for a decade, but Parise is more of a game-breaker, just a notch under Phaneuf in terms of being able to decide a game.

#3, Pittsburgh, Ryan Getzlaf
(19, Anaheim)
Actual Selection: Nathan Horton by Florida
Florida saw huge things in Horton, who had good numbers in the OHL along with a mean streak. Getzlaf’s numbers were slightly less than Horton’s, but he has proven to be a solid NHL player while Horton is constantly rumored to be traded.

#4, Columbus, Eric Staal
(2, Carolina)
Actual Selection: Nikolai Zherdev
You can’t blame Columbus for picking Zherdev. He had - and still has - incredible talent, but no one in North America has been able to tap into it, and he’s now home in Russia.


#5, Buffalo, Marc-Andre Fleury
(1, Pittsburgh)
Actual Selection: Thomas Vanek
Vanek is a very good player who has been wildly inconsistent, but if he can play every year like he did in 2006-07 (43-41-84) he can live up to his 5th overall selection.

#6, San Jose, Thomas Vanek
(5, Buffalo)
Actual Selection: Milan Michalek
It’s hard to see what the Sharks saw in Michalek, a player who scored a total of 9 goals in two seasons before being drafted ahead of Parise and Getzlaf. In a perfect world, they would have gotten Vanek instead.

#7, Nashville, Corey Perry
(28, Anaheim)
Actual Selection: Ryan Suter
Suter is good, for sure. At the time, Nashville needed defensive help, but to be honest, they needed all the help they could’ve gotten. Perry satisfies a lot of needs - great offensive skill and a lot of grit, both of which make him invaluable on the power play.

#8, Atlanta, Shea Weber
(49, Nashville)
Actual Selection: Bradyon Coburn
Coburn is good and has great potential - not that Atlanta would know, seeing as he was traded straight up for aging Alexei Zhitnik in 2007. Fact is though, after Phaneuf, Weber was the best defenseman in this draft. Nashville did great in selecting both him and Suter, though they drafted Suter first.

#9, Calgary, Nikolai Zherdev
(4, Columbus)
Actual Selection: Phaneuf
The Flames stole Phaneuf here. Think Columbus would have liked that pick back? Zherdev, though, is still an immense talent, like I said 5 spots earlier. He has incredible skill, and it’s a shame it never got put to use in the NHL.

#10, Montreal, Mike Richards
(24, Philadelphia)
Actual Selection: Andrei Kostitsyn
Kostitsyn will never warrant being a Top 10 pick, while Richards quickly went from unknown player to captain of the Flyers. As with Nashville and Shea Weber, Richards wasn’t even Philadelphia’s first pick of the Draft.

#11, Philadelphia, Brent Seabrook
(14, Chicago)
Actual Selection: Jeff Carter
Philadelphia had previously received Phoenix’s 1st round pick during the season, and took Carter. Can you imagine how dangerous the Flyers would be on the blueline if they had Seabrook back there? Carter is a good player, no doubt, and he scored 46 goals last year and might hit 40 this year, but Seabrook is still improving while it seems Carter might have already hit his peak.


#12, New York Rangers, Braydon Coburn
(8, Atlanta)
Actual Selection: Hugh Jessiman
A note to future GMs: Don’t pick a player because he’s from nearby and grew up a fan of your team. Hugh Freakin’ Jessiman? This guy is the laughingstock of this draft, while Coburn is quickly becoming a great defenseman. Plus, with Coburn, the Rangers wouldn’t have needed to sign Wade Redden, right?

In actuality, the Rangers over-drafted Jessiman. He was supposed to be a power forward in the John LeClair mold who was predicted to go in the late 1st round. The Rangers drafted him this high because they wanted a local guy, but it just never panned out.

#13, Brent Burns, LA
(20, Minnesota)
Actual Selection: Dustin Brown
I can’t possibly blame LA for drafting Brown, a hard-hitting, American-born RW who is one of my favorite non-Ranger players in the league. And people might tell me that Burns is overrated, but I’m very high on him and I think given the right team (a.k.a., not Minnesota), Burns can light this league up.

#14, Chicago, Jaroslav Halak
(271, Montreal)
Actual Selection: Seabrook
Chicago lucked out by still having Seabrook on board. In fact, they had a very good draft. But who let Halak slip to the 9th round?

#15, New York Islanders, Patrice Bergeron
(45, Boston)
Actual Selection: Robert Nilsson
Nilsson had a half-decent year the year he was drafted, yet stunk the next year, and the next, and the next. His biggest contribution to the Islanders was being traded away as part of the Ryan Smyth deal in ’07. Bergeron’s biggest contribution to Boston: 73 points in ‘05-’06 and 70 the next year before almost breaking his neck the next season. He would look good centering the 2nd line for the Islanders, no?

#16, Boston, Dustin Brown
(13, LA)
Actual Selection: Steve Bernier, San Jose
San Jose traded up to take Bernier, who had lit up the junior leagues. His transition to the NHL hasn’t been smooth though, and he is now on the 3rd line on his 3rd team, nowhere near a first-round pick.

#17, Edmonton, Joe Pavelski
(205, San Jose)
Actual Selection: Zach Parise, New Jersey
The Devils jumped at the opportunity to draft Parise after the Rangers, Islanders, and everyone else skipped by him. Funny thing is, Pavelski actually had better numbers in the season prior to being drafted than Parise did, yet he was in the obscure USHL (Parise played in the NCAA) and fell to #205. Looking back, both Pavelski and Parise were great steals.

#18, Washington, Dustin Byfuglien
(245, Chicago)
Actual Selection: Eric Fehr
Byfuglien was an offensive-defenseman in juniors who transitioned very nicely to the NHL game and now plays both D and RW. Fehr was a low-scoring playing in juniors who actually had 2 great years after he was drafted, 50 and 59 goals. He’s been on the back burner in Washington though, and it’s clear he won’t ever be a Top 6 forward on a team that features Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, and Nick Backstrom.

#19, Anaheim, Nathan Horton
(3, Florida)
Actual Selection: Ryan Getzlaf
A great late pick by Anaheim, getting someone who was Top 5 in this draft. Horton played in Oshawa in the OHL and scored 68 points in his draft year, 3rd on the team (oddly enough, #1 was never drafted and #2 went in the 4th round). Makes you wonder what stood out about Horton, who has turned into a good player but nowhere close to a 3rd overall selection.

#20, Minnesota, David Backes
(62, St. Louis
Actual Selection: Brent Burns
A good selection by Burns, though he is probably not fit for the way the Wild play. The Blues saw something in Backes and traded up to 62 to get him, and he’s worked out well. He’s a talented player who can hit, score, and fight. What more can you want?

#21, San Jose, Tobias Enstrom
(239, Atlanta)
Actual Selection: Mark Stuart, Boston
San Jose traded up with Boston to take Steve Bernier while Boston took Stuart here, who wasn’t extremely talented in the USHL or NCAA, and still isn’t in the NHL. He has played 2 full seasons as a Bruin, scoring a total of 25 points in those games. He’ll never be worthy of a 1st round pick, especially when Sweden’s Enstrom was available, though Enstrom didn’t blossom until a few years later.

#22, New Jersey, Jeff Carter
(11, Philadelphia)
Actual Selection: Marc-Antoine Pouliot
Carter went 11th and has had a few good seasons and can definitely score. The Oilers traded down (New Jersey leapt up to take Parise) and took Pouliot, who had a great couple of years in the QMJHL, but has never done it on a professional level. He lights up the AHL when he is down there, but can’t keep up in the NHL.

#23, Vancouver, Ryan Suter
(7, Nashville)
Actual Selection: Ryan Kesler
Kesler is a hard-working player but he probably will never play top-line minutes or score top-line points. Suter is a very good defenseman for Nashville, but he could have been drafted lower than 7th.

#24, Philadelphia, Loui Eriksson
(33, Dallas)
Actual Selection: Mike Richards
The Flyers stole Richards here. He quickly became a force for them - and their captain. Eriksson fell to the 2nd round, though he had better numbers than Horton, Jessiman, and Nilsson.

#25, Tampa Bay, Bernier
(16, San Jose)
Actual Selection: Anthony Stewart, Florida
Florida traded two 2nd round picks and a 6th to Tampa to take Stewart before anyone else did. After all, he was a hard-hitting RW with good offensive skill who was highly-touted. It just hasn’t worked for him in the NHL, as he has 12 points in 105 games and seems destined for a career in the minors.

#26, Maxim Lapierre, LA
(61, Montreal)
Actual Selection: Brian Boyle
LA had 3 picks in the 1st round here, and Boyle was their 2nd. A Ranger now, he was a great high school player when he was drafted. Lapierre was drafted by his hometown Canadiens and adds grit as a 4th liner with great potential should he ever be moved to the 2nd line. He is a Sean Avery type player, and while Boyle is a decent player who is a good penalty killer, Lapierre is a better choice here.

#27, Kyle Quincey, LA
(132, Detroit)
Actual Selection: Jeff Tambellini
Funny enough, the Kings had Quincey for 1 season, he played great, and was traded in part of the Ryan Smyth deal. He’s a solid defenseman with good upside, while Tambellini, well, Islander fans know. He’s a good player who can’t connect in the NHL but puts up great numbers in the AHL.

#28, Dallas, Brian Elliot
(291, Ottawa)
Actual Selection: Corey Perry, Anaheim
Seeing Perry still on the board, the Ducks jumped up and took him, and he rewarded them handsomely. Elliot was the 2nd to last pick in the draft, and while it has taken him a while to find himself, he has a good future as a starter in the NHL.

#29, Nigel Dawes, Ottawa
(149, Rangers)
Actual Selection: Patrick Eaves
Dawes is a speedy forward with a good shot, who, if given the chance, can be a Top 6 forward. He never got that chance in New York. Eaves was offensive at Boston College, but has found a spot on NHL rosters as a 3rd/4th liner. He’ll chip in 5-10 goals a year but you can never say that he was worth going 29th overall.

#30, St. Louis, Patrick O’Sullivan
(56, Minnesota)
Actual Selection: Shawn Belle
Belle was a curious selection - he was a stay-at-home defenseman who could have been picked later in the draft. He has played 11 career games in the NHL and now is in Montreal’s farm system. O’Sullivan could have been a Top 10 pick but his well-documented family troubles (a very abusive father who he filed a restraining order against) steered teams away from him. The Wild took him 56th overall, a value selection at that point. He had one good year with LA and now is in Edmonton, where he is struggling, but so is the team. Given the right situation, O’Sullivan can still do damage in this league.

Souring On The Shootout

The shootout has not been kind to the Islanders in 2009-10. The earlier shootouts were plagued by the spotty goaltending of Dwayne Roloson; while Roloson has significantly improved his play, the Islanders still entered this week with a record of 1-4 in the shootout.

This week, the Islanders played three games. Each of them went to the shootout. The Islanders won on Tuesday night against Columbus, lost on Thursday in Ottawa, then beat Atlanta tonight. In two of those games, the Islanders used the same three shooters - Jeff Tambellini, Frans Nielsen and Rob Schremp. No surprise there, especially since each of them were 50% or better in the shootout heading into tonight's action. (On Thursday, John Tavares replaced Tambellini in the shootout, but only because Tambellini was scratched.) In fact, you could make the argument that the main contributions of Tambellini and Schremp are their skills in the shootout. But that's an argument for another day.

My issue is this. Not only have the Islanders used virtually the same shootout lineup for three consecutive games, but all three guys - Tambellini, Schremp and Nielsen - have used the same exact moves each time they've appeared in the shootout. Tambellini used his wrister from the hash marks, Nielsen did his backhand move, and Schremp did an odd combination of like 40 moves that made it look like he was having a seizure as he skated down the ice. You'd think opposing coaches would take note of these things and go over them in meetings. Apparently, this isn't the case.

Now, I might be in the minority here, but I've always liked the shootout. Anything added to the game that appeases the fans is a great thing, and that's exactly what the shootout was intended to do - to ensure that paying customers see a winner and a loser. The Columbus game on Tuesday was the first time I got to see a shootout live, and I loved it. However, I'm starting to see where the "skills competition" aspect comes into play. If players are just going to recycle the same moves over and over again, nobody benefits. Shooters risk doing their moves one time too many and being figured out, while the fans - the reason for the shootout in the first place - get cheated because they're not seeing anything new.

Don't get me wrong. I'd much rather see the shootout in its current form than watch a game end in a tie. But maybe there's a better way to go about this. I have no idea what that better way would be. I just wish the shootout was the exciting, creative event it's supposed to be instead of the same old moves night in and night out.

Thanks to the incomparable NHL Shootouts for the shootout data.

Don't Believe The Hype

If I close my eyes, I can picture what so-called "experts" are writing and what they're saying.

"I'll tell you what - I like this New York Islanders team."

"This is a team that will never say die."

"These Islanders do not know the meaning of the word 'quit'."

"Last year's Islanders team folded in the clutch. But not this year's team."

"Opposing teams can no longer take the New York Islanders for granted."

Gag. I'm not trying to be the turd in the punch bowl here, but just about all of these quotes could have been attributed to the Islanders we saw twelve months ago. You know, the team that was hovering around .500 (or, as Howie Rose would say, "The NHL's definition of .500") and the eighth seed for the first two months of the season. Ultimately, as the season progressed, blown leads became blown games, the entire team got hurt, and that was that. This year has gone much the same way, but the Isles managed to not blow a couple of games. So now, I'm supposed to be excited? Sorry, it doesn't work that way.

Here's the thing. Everyone else might be surprised about the Isles' success of late and the sudden emergence of Jeff Tambellini. I'm not.

Tambellini

Let's discuss Tambellini first, because he's the easy one. When Mike Piazza left the Mets to sign with the Oakland A's as a designated hitter, he said the hardest adjustment was keeping his mental focus when he wasn't hitting. As a DH, all he could do was hit, and if he was hitting poorly, it was hard for him to feel confident. After all, he couldn't pat himself on the back for catching a good game anymore. Most pure scorers in the NHL are not unlike designated hitters in baseball - they need to do their one thing extremely well in order to feel confident.

Tambellini, obviously, took a long time to come around as a scorer in the NHL. Quite frankly, aside from the past week, there's no proof that he will ever become a consistent scorer in the NHL. But Tambellini has been smart enough to focus on playing a physical game over the past 40 or so NHL games he's played. This has not only helped the team and his development, but it's helped his own psyche as well. Now, if he's not scoring, he can contribute in other ways and know he's making a difference. And sometimes, all it takes is for a scorer to not think about scoring for him to suddenly be presented with great scoring opportunities.

Yankee fans out there know that a relaxed player is that much more likely to succeed. It seems that all it took was one home run for Alex Rodriguez to transform from vilified slugger into Captain Clutch. We won't go that far with Jeff Tambellini yet. But this is truly Tambellini's chance. With the support of the fans and tangible proof that his hard work is paying off, he's got a great chance to earn another contract with the Islanders.

Level of Competition

Here's the thing about the Islanders. They play extremely well against good teams. Think about all the third-period leads they've blown over the past two years. Can you recall them blowing a lead against an inferior team? That's because it never happened.

On Friday night, you might have heard Howie and Billy talking about the Capitals playing to the level of their competition. This is usually a criticism levied against good teams. However, you don't have to be a good team to be guilty of this. The Islanders do it all the time. They'll give a team like Washington or Pittsburgh a run for their money, then go out and stink up the joint against Florida the next night.

According to the incomparable PlayoffStatus.com, the Islanders have the highest strength of schedule thus far in the Eastern Conference. That is, their opponents have earned a higher percentage of potential points than the opponents of any other team in the East. In most cases, you'd look at a team's strength of schedule and assume that if they've done well against good teams, they'll also do well against poor teams. Sadly, that's never been the case with the Islanders.

In four nights, the Islanders scored wins over, in terms of points, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th best teams in the East. This is an amazing accomplishment, and Islanders fans are right to be excited. However, I've seen this before, and I know that the real test for the Islanders is how they perform against teams like Tampa Bay and Toronto. I know they can hang with the best teams in the league, even if "hanging" means being underestimated and then getting destroyed when the sleeping giant awakens. But I don't know that the Islanders can win the games a good team is supposed to win.

As crazy as it sounds, November might be a tougher test for the Islanders than October was. The Islanders played 13 games in October; aside from Carolina, all of their opponents were eighth or better in their respective conferences. In November, the Islanders will play some good teams such as New Jersey and an underrated Atlanta team, but they will also play Minnesota (15th in West), St. Louis (13th in West), Florida (13th in East), Toronto (15th in East) and the aforementioned Hurricanes. If the Isles can play these teams with the same intensity as they showed against the likes of the Rangers and Capitals, I'll feel a lot better about this team. As it stands now, though, I'm cautiously optimistic. I'm enjoying this recent run of success, but I'm taking it at face value. As Islanders fans, judging from past experiences, that's really all we can do.

Sabres 6, Islanders 3

Another game, another loss for the Islanders. That's five straight losses to open the season, in case you lost count. Personally, I don't care about the wins and losses; this season is about improvement and developing young players, and these things don't always show up on the stat sheet. Far more significant than the end result is how the team played on the way to that result. Tonight... um... they didn't play that well. Here's what I saw tonight...

- As the puck dropped tonight, I thought about how strange it was that the Islanders completely changed their goaltending. It's not common for teams to get rid of both of their goalies, but the Isles did just that. Most of us were glad to see this. However, Dwayne Roloson's five-hole is giving me nightmares of the Ron Hextall era. Please let Martin Biron start tomorrow night.

- Speaking of roster moves, Rob Schremp should find himself in the Tambellini position tomorrow night, as he had a rather Tamby-esque game tonight. Here's hoping Schremp finds the pretzel twists as delicious as Zach and I do. I also hope Tambellini can make the most of his opportunity, assuming it does come his way tomorrow.

- Mark Streit is usually pretty reliable on the defensive end, but he got caught napping twice in the offensive zone tonight. One of those times led to the penalty shot that put the Sabres up 2-0. What happens if the Sabres don't score that goal? Who knows? But these mistakes don't make losses easier to stomach.

- Tim Jackman and Joel Rechlicz played 10:46 tonight. That's 10:46 COMBINED. Even with their totals added together, that's less than any individual Islanders player, just edging Josh Bailey. This brings up two points. First, why waste roster spots with guys who barely play; furthermore, why play guys who can't, you know, play? Second, it's not very smart to totally stunt Josh Bailey's development as a player by teaming him with stiffs like Jackman. Josh Bailey is a playmaker. Tim Jackman has seven goals in 142 NHL games.

- If I were Scott Gordon, I'd take every young player the organization is trying to build around and give those players serious minutes on the penalty kill. Letting up power play goals doesn't matter in a lost season (yes, the season is five games old, but we all know the Isles aren't going anywhere), but it can pay dividends down the line. John Tavares played 56 shorthanded seconds tonight; let's see that number go up. And for the record, Gordon does a great job of spreading out his minutes, but it'd be great to see him essentially force players to learn the defensive side of the game as they develop.

- Speaking of Tavares, every single time he touches the puck in the offensive zone, he's liable to create something. He managed to score a goal tonight, but of more interest to me were the two open nets he missed and the countless times he stickhandled out of trouble. Every time he touches the puck, I'm amazed. His hockey sense is uncanny and can literally make something out of nothing; given the lack of quality NHL players on this roster, often times, he'll have to do just that. What a tremendous player, and what a treat it is to watch him play.

- My last note for tonight - why, oh why, must the Islanders constantly be relegated to the dregs of MSG Plus 2? They played on Channel 414 tonight and they will be there again tomorrow, despite being at home and despite the Rangers being on the road. I understand the Islanders' ratings do not compare well to those of the Rangers and the Devils, but if the Islanders are at home, they really should be shown in high definition. It's a bit depressing to look for the Islanders game on TV and see that they can't even crack the double digits on the dial. This only helps perpetuate the image that the Islanders are a second-class organization, which surely doesn't help the Islanders as they attempt to rebuild all the facets of their team.

Busy night tomorrow. My predictions: The Rangers win 4-2 over the Maple Leafs, while the Isles lose 5-3 to the Sharks.

Your 2009-10 New York Islanders Drinking Game, Version 1.0

When we first started this blog, one of our first posts was an Islanders drinking game. At the time we posted the game, the Islanders were a below-average team, but they were a far cry from the 30th overall team we saw last year. When your team is really bad, sometimes it can get tough watching the team play.

That's where we come in.

The 2009-10 New York Islanders should be a significant improvement over last year's team, but it doesn't necessarily mean they'll get better results. With this in mind, here's something to keep you interested. If nothing else, we hope it'll keep you laughing (and drinking), something much easier said than done with this team. We'll update this as it becomes necessary.

And away we go!

---

ANNOUNCERS

Drink every time...

- Billy Jaffe stares into the camera with a creepy half-smile while Howie is talking

- Howie Rose or Billy Jaffe reference their listeners on the radio. Chug if they use the phrase "Out In Radio Land".

- A sponsored segment is introduced. Chug if it's a Panasonic Digital Replay.

- Howie or Billy makes a bad pun

- Howie states that coincidental minors "will not affect on-ice manpower"

- Howie dismisses a late-game penalty as "just bookkeeping"

- Billy says something that could be construed as homer-ish. Chug if Billy precedes it with something like "Not to sound like a homer, but..."

- Stan Fischler appears on the intermission report. Chug if he's the best-dressed member of the crew. Take an additional drink every time he says something that would best be described as "crotchety". Kill a beer if he goes out of his way to bash Sidney Crosby.

- Howie praises the Islanders' third uniforms

- Howie complains about the difficulty of the night's trivia question

- Howie or Billy mention crew members (i.e. statistician Eric Hornick, producer Larry Roth, etc.) during the middle of a game

- Billy begins a point by saying "Here's a guy..."

- Billy gives orders to the production truck during a replay (i.e. "Hold it right there", "OK, roll it")

- Billy or Howie compliments the camera crew for getting a particularly good shot

- Butch Goring wears a hideous suit

- Howie or Billy mentions Egg Levine

COMMERCIALS

Drink every time the following commercials air...

- Emblem Health

- Anything owned by Cablevision

- That damn Panasonic commercial with Ryan Sheckler

- Two Brothers Scrap Metal (PLEASE add this to your rotation, MSG Plus!)

- Coin Galleries of Oyster Bay

IN-GAME

Drink every time...

- Scott Gordon is wearing a tie that incorporates the Islanders' color scheme. Chug if his entire wardrobe is blue, white and orange.

- The crowd does a two-syllable chant in honor of a goalie (i.e. "D-P", "Roll-E", "Bee-Ron")

- Kyle Okposo takes a shot with one of his knees on the ice

- Jeff Tambellini does something that makes you curse aloud

- An opposing player dishes out a borderline hit. Chug if the Islanders don't bother to respond.

- An Islanders player is injured

- A Bridgeport Sound Tigers regular is called into duty to replace an injured player. Jeff Tambellini does NOT count as a Sound Tigers regular.

- The Islanders let up a goal while leading in the third period

- The camera gets a shot of a player taking a sip of water

- An Islanders goalie leaves the net to play the puck. Chug if it leaves him horribly out of position.

- A former Islander scores a goal against the Islanders

- The Islanders have more shots on goal than their opponents, but lose the game anyway

- The game goes to a shootout. Kill a beer if Brendan Witt is one of the Islanders' shooters.

Quick Hits

Just a couple of quick thoughts...

 - As stated in the post directly below this one, we were on the radio today and it was a blast. We ended up talking hockey for about two hours and (hopefully) a fun time was had by all. The show isn't available for download yet, but once it is, we'll be posting a link here. Thanks again to Anthony at the 3rd String Safety for having us.

 - Tonight's action featured two four-point games with the local teams. The Rangers beat Buffalo 5-3, which is a huge, huge win for the Blueshirts. The Rangers now have an eight-point lead on Buffalo, essentially meaning that the Rangers only have to beat out Florida for the final playoff spot, but that's just the beginning. Since Montreal lost tonight, the Rangers have a three-point cushion in the 7th spot; furthermore, they're only two points out of 4th place and the home-ice advantage that comes with it. Sure, Carolina and Pittsburgh sit between the Rangers and 4th place Philadelphia, but the Rangers have games in hand over both the Hurricanes and Penguins. Long story short, things are looking good for the Rangers.

 - The other 4-point game tonight would be the Islanders playing Ottawa in a game with some draft implications for the Islanders. Ottawa's pretty much out of the running for the first overall pick, but one win could change all that. Well, after Ottawa destroyed the Islanders 5-2 tonight, the Senators are no longer in the picture. While I can't stomach hearing Islanders fans proclaiming their joy after such an outcome, there was one positive - Josh Bailey had his first two-goal game. That brings his total for the year up to a robust five goals. Yes, Bailey scored 40% of his season's output tonight. It's worth noting that for all of the Islanders' great play of late, much of it has been at home; the Isles are now a horrendous 8-26-3 on the road on the year. One last thing - if we can agree that Buffalo can't catch the Rangers because they're eight points back, the same can be said for Atlanta and Colorado, each of whom are eight points ahead of the Islanders right now. The only team closer to the Isles is the 61-point Tampa Bay Lightning, who are five up on the Islanders. So it's eminently possible that the Islanders will get their 48.2% chance at John Tavares after all.

 - I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the wacky scheduling of this weekend. Last night, the Islanders played a 7 PM game in Carolina. They then had to fly overnight to Ottawa in order to play tonight at 7 PM. Ottawa, in turn, will fly to New York to play the Rangers at 7 PM tomorrow night. You may recall the same type of thing happened a month or so ago when the Islanders played Toronto on the road, only to have both teams fly home simultaneously so the Leafs could play the Rangers at the Garden the next night. And not for nothing, but only the Islanders would get stuck flying some 1,500-plus miles overnight to play a Canadian team. I'm pretty sure the important teams, such as the Penguins, Capitals and Rangers all would get the luxury of a good night's sleep in this scenario.

 - I'm heading to "Arena At Harbor Yard" tomorrow to watch the Bridgeport Sound Tigers face the Portland Pirates, the AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. Should be a fun day. It's Jeff Tambellini Bobblehead Day, so feel free to make your own Tambellini joke (and after tonight's game, feel free to make a crack about his breakaway skills). In any event, we'll have a report of the arena, the team, and the general minor-league experience sometime soon.

Bailey Stays

It's not much of a surprise given how well he's done so far, but Josh Bailey will be an Islander for the duration of the season. The Islanders announced this morning that they're keeping Bailey on the big club. And I say, why not? He's certainly proven he can contribute on this level. His numbers (0-5-5) sort of belie the progress he's made. Don't let the lack of goals fool you - they'll come soon enough. And with the right scorers on his line, Bailey could soon become the team's top playmaker. I'm glad they're giving him the chance to learn on the job. It's a rebuilding year; let Bailey take his lumps now so that he'll be more seasoned once things pick up around here.

Speaking of young players, I just read in Logan's blog that Jeff Tambellini has now played in 100 NHL games. In those hundred games, he has four goals and nineteen points, with no goals in his last 40 games. A lot of people dump on Tambellini, and deservedly so, but he's been trying to add a physical aspect to his game lately. It make sense to try to do this. Sometimes, you need to focus on something else to regain that natural scoring touch, to get back to that place where you don't have to think about the play and just react instead. Having said all that, Tambellini is here to score, something he's not doing very well. It'll be interesting to see how the Islanders handle the Tambellini situation going forward if things don't improve.

Home game tonight against Ottawa (again). Here's hoping for a nice bounce-back effort and an Islanders win.

Great Win Tonight

So tonight was interesting. Two New York teams playing at home against Canadian opponents, two 2-1 shootout wins for the locals. Zach will be by to tell you more about the Rangers game. As for the Islanders...

 - Zach talked me into buying back into online gambling. So I did. I considered betting the under for this game, which was five goals. I ultimately decided against it and bet the under in tonight's Bills-Browns game, which was said to be played in snowy conditions. The under in that game is 41. It's already 13-7 Cleveland with not a drop of snow on the ground. Uh-oh.

 - Caught the pre-game show tonight... it wasn't bad. Filler-laden, sure, but enjoyable. Two segments stood out to me. The first, obviously, was the Stan Fischler-C.J. Papa segment in which the two spent maybe five seconds talking about the Islanders. They'd go on to repeat this during the intermissions. The other was a segment called "Billy's Breakdown" where Billy Jaffe broke down some film for the viewing audience. What I liked was that he didn't pick the scoring plays. Instead, he picked the plays people don't really notice, but can be disastrous if done incorrectly. Tonight's theme was breakouts from the defensive zone, which is harder than it seems. Jaffe also scores points with me for doing NHL Live during the afternoon and still doing the game at night. That's hardcore.

 - The Isles came out jittery, but started to get it together by the end of the first. The second and third periods showed how good defensive hockey can be. Like Zach said the other night, defensive battles are great, and hockey has better defensive-minded games than any other sport. Joey MacDonald is the obvious first star of this game, but Andy Sutton played an excellent game as well. It's no coincidence the Islanders have gotten their act together since Sutton's return. Here's a stat you might not be aware of - since Sutton came back on October 30, the Islanders have only played two games (out of nine) in which they haven't either won or held a third-period lead.

 - The stat I just mentioned doesn't just reflect well on Sutton, but on the whole team. Everyone loves to dump on the Islanders - more on this later - but the truth is the Isles have been extremely competitive so far in November. This team is starting to figure out what it is. It's certainly not the best team, but it plays hard. It gets ahead early, often loses its way, but is starting to learn how to come back and play a good third period. Three wins in a row is a big deal for a team most people picked for last in the entire league.

 - As well as the Islanders are playing, I still have to question some of Scott Gordon's decisions. Namely, how on earth Jeff Tambellini gets a regular shift in overtime. You really want to throw out a minus-six player out there in overtime? I don't get that one. Nor do I see the logic in giving Josh Bailey a try in the shootout. Had he scored his first NHL goal already, that'd be one thing. But to take an 18-year-old who's trying to figure out the NHL game, trying to get his firsts out of the way, and throw him in there against a top-three goaltender? That's asking a lot. I guess Gordon is still trying to figure out who his go-to shootout guys are. The only player to participate in both Islanders shootouts this year is Trent Hunter - and he missed both of his attempts.

 - Throughout the game, the announcers mentioned the boasts of the Vancouver media that this would be an easy two points for the Canucks. As the game progressed, the announcers became more and more fed up with these remarks. Finally, Howie Rose sardonically remarked after Joey MacDonald's final save, "The all-knowing Vancouver media has some explaining to do!" Look, homerism is a turn-off for a lot of people. For Islanders fans? I think we kind of need that. It's not as though there are a ton of people proudly boasting Islanders merchandise. I wore an Islanders shirt to Saturday overtime last week, and a Rangers fan asked me, "You wear that (bleep) in public?" So yeah. I'll take a broadcast crew that gets behind my team as opposed to one that calls it right down the middle, at least as far as the Islanders are concerned.

As for the articles in question, here's one I found, entitled "Islanders Look Like Team in Oldtimers League".  But I did find this blog, which did your typical "Hockey's in trouble on Long Island" post earlier today and ended tonight's coverage with this nugget: "Canucks lose after scoring in the first minute of regulation, beaten by a career minor-league goalie named Joey MacDonald. Not very good..."

If you've ever wondered why Islanders fans have such a complex about their team, it's because we have to read crap like this pretty much all the time. It kind of gets old after a while. When the Rangers were awful, people made fun of them for spending a lot of money. Nobody said New York City didn't deserve a hockey franchise. Even if it's hard to dispute the facts about the state of the Islanders, it hurts to hear about it so often. Especially from the uninformed Canadian media, who are never wrong about anything. Just ask them.

One last thing about the Canucks, who have been to the playoffs just as many times as the Islanders since the lockout: They stole the Islanders' promotional slogan from last season.

I was happy the Islanders got their two points tonight. But I think I'm even happier that the Isles got to stick it to the media. Something tells me they're going to be in this sort of position a lot this year. But if the first two weeks of November are any indication, the Islanders won't be nearly as bad as many of us feared. I can think of a lot of teams who wouldn't mind taking 11 out of 18 points in November.

Next game is Friday in New Jersey. I'll be making the trip out to The Rock for the game. It probably won't be a very sober one. In any event, it'll be a fun trip to the most wonderful arena that nobody goes to.

Draft Day Blunders In New York

Looking for a laugh today?

Well, here you go. Today, the Rangers traded away former first round pick Hugh Jessiman to the Nashville Predators. What do the Rangers get in return, you ask? That would be the classic "future considerations", which can be anything from a crappy overpaid player to a bucket of hockey pucks to a nice meal the next time the Rangers go down to Nashville. Apparently, Jessiman struggled with a high ankle sprain for much of his career. Now, those of us who play fantasy football know that a high ankle sprain is one of those injuries that affects you for a long, long time. That said, Jessiman was drafted five years ago, and you can only blame injuries for so long.

There will be no stones thrown from this glass house. We all know Jessiman never played an NHL game, the only first-rounder chosen in 2003 with that distinction. Of course, that same year, the Islanders passed up the obvious choice of Zach Parise in favor of Robert Nilsson, he of the nineteen career goals. While the link above makes light of the Rangers' awful first-round draft record, the Islanders don't exactly have anything to brag about. Remember the 1999 draft, when the Islanders had four first-round picks? Taylor Pyatt, Tim Connolly, Branislav Mezei, and Mike Rupp barely combine to form one above-average player, let alone the four star players the Islanders thought they drafted. Let's not forget about Raffi Torres with the #5 pick in 2000, the Jason Spezza debacle in 2001, and of course, the selling off of 2004, 2006, and 2007 first-round picks for Ryan Smyth and two playoff home games. Hell, aside from Kyle Okposo, the best player the Islanders picked in the first round was Petteri Nokelainen in 2004, and he got dumped off to Boston for Ben Walter. Walter and Jeff Tambellini, point-a-game players in the AHL but horrendous players in the NHL, will combine to provide an extremely capable scoring line for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for many years to come.

So, having said all that, let's just agree that neither of our teams can draft well in the first round and leave it at that. Okay? Okay.

Isles Lock Up Another Young Player

This time, it's Frans Nielsen who will benefit from Garth Snow's signing spree. Four years for $2.1 million... not bad.

Here's the big part of the news, though. It's a one-way deal.

You know what that means? They're actually doing it. They're going to rebuild the right way. They're going to throw the young guys in there, and even if they lose their first 25 games, the young guys aren't going anywhere. And, dare I say it, it's about f'ing time.

A one-way deal means you can't be sent down unless you clear waivers. That's why over the last couple of years, you'd only see guys like Neilsen if someone got hurt and they needed a quick fix. Nielsen was one of the guys who performed really well in spite of his prominent role on the Port Jefferson Ferry. Not only did he hold his own in the NHL, but he averaged roughly 0.8 points per game in Bridgeport - not bad, especially considering the AHL is often even more physical than the NHL.

As much as I love all these one-year deals the Islanders are giving out, perhaps the biggest subliminal effect will be the message these deals send to the fringe players under contract - contribute, or else. Now that it's clear what direction the Islanders are going in, they will want veterans who can not only play well, but who can teach these kids something. It's going to be interesting who ends up making the team out of training camp. I've got a feeling we'll see some surprises.

While it's nice that we're seeing guys like Nielsen, Jeff Tambellini, and Sean Bergenheim receiving rewards for their hard work, it's also becoming clear that we should expect significant growing pains this year. This only makes Snow's job of finding a new coach more difficult. Not only is this new coach coming into an environment of chaos (that's the perception of our team outside of Long Island), but he's also going to be losing a ton of games in his first season. As we all know, coaches are evaluated based on wins, even if the team is making a clear youth movement. Who wants to set himself up for failure? That's a very good question.

We should also look forward to a mass exodus at the trade deadline of the veterans who won't be back next year. As the Islanders get ready to bring up the next crop of youngsters over the next year or so, the Isles will need to make room for them somehow. No better way than to rent out the veterans, get some draft picks, clear out some cap room, and get ready for 2009-10. By that time, it's possible that the Islanders will be seen as a team on the rise; a year of stability on the management front won't hurt, either. They might even be able to attract a marquee free agent or two. Even if they can't, they may have an elite goalie in Rick DiPietro and one of the game's emerging stars in Kyle Okposo, not to mention some good young players with experience and not a whole lot of aging veterans taking up roster spots. Who knows what could happen?

Either way, if you're a real Islanders fan, you have to be happy that they're finally committing to youth. I think we can all deal with a bad season in 2008-09 if it leads to bigger things in the years that follow. It certainly beats treading water and praying for the 8th seed like we've been doing for the past five years. Maybe Zach was right - there could be a bright future for this team, and it might not be all that far away. We just have to pay our dues first.

Busy News Day On Long Island

Sorry to usurp Zach's post on jerseys. I'd advise reading it; it's something I think we can all relate to. I can't say the same thing about liking Ryan Hollweg.

Anyway, it's been a pretty big day in Islanders Country. Who knew we'd have so much to talk about? I figured we'd have broken out the summer reading and NHL 08 stuff weeks ago.

For those who missed it, here's what happened today...

- It wasn't exactly publicized, but "The Committee" is no more. Charles Wang insists that Garth Snow is in charge of hockey operations going forward. Good for him. This "business model", which Wang insisted was the future of hockey, lasted almost exactly two years and resulted in exactly one playoff win, not to mention a ton of scorn and embarrassment. Thanks a lot, Charles.

Party on, Wang! Party on, Garth! (Sorry. That cracks me up every time.)

- The Islanders signed Jeff Tambellini to a two-year deal. It's a one-way deal that will pay Tambellini $550,000 this year and $625,000 the next. If nothing else, this guarantees that Tambellini will be on the Island for the next two years instead of riding the Port Jefferson Ferry a dozen times a year. For his development, it's huge; however, it's time for Tambellini to show he's worth it. Four goals in 79 NHL games doesn't cut it.

- The Isles also inked another of their restricted free agents - Sean Bergenheim. It's funny how firing your agents changes things. Just a week ago, Bergenheim was headed for a bitter arbitration hearing. Now, he's got a deal for 2008 and 2009 that will pay him $800,000 and $925,000 respectively. It's not confirmed anywhere, but we can only assume it's a one-way contract. This does a lot to convince Islander fans that the marriage between Bergenheim and his team can be a long-term one; it also shows the other young players on the Island that the team is committed to youth. Thank God.

- Buzz on The NHL Arena suggested that some of the NHL schedule would be unveiled today. The plan, as was speculated, was to announce the home openers today and the rest of the schedule tomorrow. Well, we never heard anything from the Islanders about this (yet), but we have been able to confirm that the Islanders will be visiting the Prudential Center on October 10th as the Devils kick off their home campaign. As is always the case in New Jersey, great seats are still available. Greg Logan of Newsday states that the Devils game will be the Islanders' first, with the home opener being played the following night against St. Louis. At least they're burning one of their non-drawing Western Conference games with the home opener, which will most likely be a sell-out.

Also, the worst-kept secret in hockey was confirmed, as the Red Wings and Blackhawks will be facing off at the 2009 Winter Classic, which will be played at Wrigley Field. I know a lot of us wanted the Islanders to be included, but this is great for the game. There's a serious hockey revival going on in Chicago, and this is the icing on the cake. It's great to have another Original Six city re-embracing the game. With an team full of emerging young stars, every game on TV, and now the Winter Classic, hockey is back on the map in Chicago - and not a moment too soon.

We should see schedules unveiled for both New York teams tomorrow. At this point, all we know is that the two teams will have six games against each other; common sense dictates that these games will be played on weeknights. Let's hope for some more home-and-homes like we saw down the stretch last year.

Wanted: Goal Scorers

While at Saturday's game, sitting next to a Flyers fan, I noted how our "team full of third-liners" couldn't score goals. I was half-kidding about the third-liners thing... sort of. A day later, after watching 53 shots yield zero goals, it was evident to everybody that the Islanders are in serious trouble.

I'm big on hockey cliches. To me, the most important one is "Put the puck on the net, and good things will happen." Turns out that isn't always true. Let's look at the Isles' last four games.

- 2/26, vs. Pittsburgh: 52 shots, 2 goals
- 2/28, @ Atlanta: 37 shots, 5 goals
- 3/1, vs. Philadelphia: 34 shots, 1 goal
- 3/2, vs. Florida: 53 shots, 0 goals

Noticing a trend here? Shots don't always translate into goals. That's what happens when your top two lines are full of grinders, role players, and Mike Comrie. And, of course, the Isles did nothing at the trade deadline, so we're stuck with this bunch until April. What part of April depends on whether the Isles get bounced in the first round or if they miss the playoffs altogether.

Just about every analyst who has been asked about the Islanders has given a universal answer: "It's going to be impossible to outwork the Islanders. Ted Nolan will make sure they give it their all, and Rick DiPietro can keep them in just about any game. However, their anemic offense will make sure they don't score enough goals to be considered serious playoff contenders." We've all heard this one before; maybe earlier in the season, we dismissed it as hearsay. Now, it cannot be denied - this team simply cannot score goals.

And here's the bad part - goal scorers need great playmakers to get them the puck. Aside from Comrie, who's going to do that? In this decade, we've seen Alexei Yashin and Miroslav Satan be rather ineffective compared to their prior stops due largely to the lack of a supporting cast. With Satan a likely goner after this season, it'll be time to bring in the next big-ticket scorer. Think about this - if the Islanders somehow manage to land Marian Hossa on July 1, can we even be certain he'll be three-fourths as effective?

We're seeing some positive signs out of the young guys, a.k.a. the only players on the team who are doing anything. In time, Jeff Tambellini could be a 30-goal scorer and Blake Comeau could be a great power forward. But, for now, the Isles are going to be looking at some lean nights offensively. And with the playoffs looming, and with two games coming up against the red-hot Rangers, the Isles are in serious trouble.

Islanders Trade Deadline Review

Sure, it's a few days late... but this sort of thing tends to happen when you don't start your blog until two days after the deadline.

Anyway.

In the days before the trade deadline, Garth Snow labeled the Islanders as "builders". As in, not buyers or sellers. I guess this was his way of saying that he had no idea what his team would be doing at the deadline, which is the predicament quite a few teams found themselves in. Given the constant change in the East standings throughout this season, it was impossible for any of the middle-tier teams to figure out what to do. That's one by-product of the widespread parity we've see in the East this year.

The other by-product, of course, is a large amount of teams making big moves. Since there are very few elite teams, the middle class of the NHL is very tightly compressed - and each of them thinks they're one move away from making a run at the Cup. We've seen it a million times in the past, and we'll see it even more in the future as the gap between the haves and the have-nots diminishes. Last year, we saw the Islanders go this route with the Ryan Smyth deal. Needless to say, it was fairly obvious we wouldn't see a repeat performance from Mr. Snow.

So what did we expect this year? Not much. Maybe a trade or two to dump a few of the team's many unrestricted free agents, but that's about it. And that's what we got. I've been a pretty big Marc-Andre Bergeron fan since he's been here, but getting a third-round pick for a player who spent a significant amount of time watching the Islanders from the press box is a great deal. So is getting a sixth-rounder for Chris Simon, a player who many people thought should have been cut immediately after his latest suspension. Sure, a sixth-round pick is roughly as vaulable as a Lotto scratch-off ticket, but one never knows what gems can be unearthed in the draft.

As for additions, the Isles only picked up one player, defenseman Rob Davison. And he's already playing quality minutes in clutch situations. It's tough to say where he fits in with the team's long-term plans, but I'll take Davison over the Drew Fatas of the world any day. He already scored major points with me by playing the same night he was traded, three thousand miles away no less. That's dedication. That's what Islander fans like. Davison already has a fan in yours truly. The trades the Islanders pulled off also means they have a (supposedly) regular spot for Jeff Tambellini in the lineup, and I must say it's about time. All this guy has done is tear up the AHL, yet he still can't seem to latch onto the big club. After watching the likes of Darryl Bootland, Chris Simon, and Tim Jackman produce nothing for the Islanders, they had better give Tambellini a real chance to show he belongs. It's hard to rebuild if you can't trust your young players to play at the NHL level.

The other big news to come out of the trade deadline is the re-signing of Mike Comrie. Yeah, it's only for a year, but still. Here's a decidely above-average player who actually wants to play on Long Island. How about that? Even the most optimistic of Islander fans saw Comrie as a one-and-done player, following in the footsteps of pretty much every good player we've had since the lockout. It'd be a stretch to say that Comrie's decision to stay will convince other players to do the same, but it certainly doesn't hurt. And say what you want to about Comrie, but since he was given the "A", he's been a force for this team. He even has three fights on the year, a very high total for a player not known for his physical presence. Again, maybe Comrie isn't the guy to build the team around, but he should be good for the young players thanks to his passing ability and overall hockey sense.

Even though the Islanders didn't really do much of anything at the deadline, they did make a great deal of progress. They got back decent value for some dead weight, re-signed their best skater, and cleared out space for some young talent to step up. Which certainly beats a huge firesale or an ill-fated deal for a rental player. Will these moves get the Isles into the playoffs? Tough to say. But they're no worse equipped to make a run than they were a week ago, and that's the most important thing.